Become a Foster Home

Foster homes are urgently needed, right now!

B﻿ecome a﻿﻿Fo﻿ster Home

By becoming a foster home, you are helping us save lives. It is very rewarding and fun experience. When you become a foster parent, you open up your heart and your home to a once homeless pet temporarily until they are adopted. Hoppy Hearts does not have a shelter, we solely rely on foster homes to house all our adorable rabbits until they can find families of their own through adoption.

​ **Note: Foster Homes located outside of London MUST be able to drive the rabbit to London or Guelph in a medical emergency**

FOSTER HOMES ARE URGENTLY NEEDED IN:

​LondonSt. ThomasDorchesterIngersollWoodstock

rEQUIREMENTS & sUPPLIES

WE WILL SUPPLY:

X-pen

Bedding/litter

Food and hay

Dishes, litter pans

FOSTER HOME REQUIREMENTS:

Tarp or other waterproof type material

Flat cardboard (lots of it!)

Soft of fleece blankets (The Dollarstore is great for these!)

1-2 cups of fresh Romaine Lettuce per day​

​Why do we ask for these? Rabbits can get messy. Sometimes they like to spill their water, or may have a few accidents outside their litter box. A tarp or waterproof material will keep your floors protected. Placing cardboard over the tarp not only adds an extra layer of protection, but also satisfies the need for a rabbit to dig. Rather than chew up your carpet, they can rip up the cardboard. A soft layer of blankets will keep them comfortable and give them traction. We are unable to stock produce for our foster homes, so we ask that you provide your foster rabbit with 1-2 cups of fresh romaine lettuce per day. Fresh greens are an essential part of a rabbit's diet.

DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER RABBIT IN YOUR HOME?To prevent injury or heartbreak, it is mandatory that your rabbit and the foster rabbit never meet. Rabbits have complex social structures and are at risk of attacking each other and causing injury. We do not want one of our rabbits to injure yours, and we do not want to hold you responsible for your rabbit injuring ours. Another risk is if the rabbits bond and fall in love: if separated, bonded rabbits can suffer a broken heart from loosing their friend and it can become emotionally distressing enough to turn fatal. We do not wish suffering upon any sweet rabbit.

It is also mandatory that all other rabbits in the home have been spayed/neutered for at least 3 months before fostering. Even with our rabbits all spayed and neutered, having an unaltered rabbit in the home can trigger unwanted behaviors from either (or both) of the rabbits.